RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES VOL. 3, NO. 4, PAGES 311–315, doi:10.2205/2001ES000069, 2001

Temperature benchmarks in the lithosphere, marking the phase transformations of the matter, and the possibilities of estimating their depths

Mining Research Institute for the Northern Territories, Sib. Div. RAS, Yakutsk, Russia

Abstract

[1]  Extensive research into temperature distribution in the lithosphere and upper mantle revealed it to be highly ambiguous. Of great interest in this context is the distribution of temperature benchmarks in the lithosphere, which mark phase transitions in the individual components of rocks and in the fluids filling their pores. As follows from the percolation theory, the physical properties of the rocks change jumpwise at the discontinuities produced by their phase transformations. This simplifies the interpretation of magnetotelluric and other electrical measurements, enhances the reliability of its results, and facilitates the use of radiolocation, especially in the case of relatively shallow discontinuities. The discontinuities may not coincide in terms of percolation and mechanical conpling, this explaining differences in the results of electrical and seismic measurements.

Received 16 October 2001; published 8 November 2001.

Keywords: lithosphere, phase transformations, temperature benchmarks, magnetotelluric measurements.

Version of this paper in Russian